Facebook has said that it does not save call and text data of Android users without their permission, adding the practice is “widely used” with users having an option to opt-out from it.

Facebook was replying to several media reports which claimed that the social media giant was saving the call and text data of Android users for years. A report in technology website Ars Technica said that Android cellphone users have noticed that Facebook has saved a virtual trove of their personal call data.

Facebook denies saving data of its Android users. VOA

“This past week, a New Zealand man was looking through the data Facebook had collected from him in an archive he had pulled down from the social networking site,” the report said. “While scanning the information Facebook had stored about his contacts, Dylan McKay discovered that Facebook also had about two years’ worth of phone call metadata from his Android phone, including names, phone numbers, and the length of each call made or received,” the report added.

However, a Facebook spokesperson pointed out that the call log was “a widely used practice to begin by uploading your phone contacts”. The spokesperson added that users give their consent by uploading their contacts, a function that’s optional. People can also delete contact data from their profiles by using a tool available on Web browsers, Facebook stated.

Later, Facebook issued a statement saying, “You may have seen some recent reports that Facebook has been logging people’s call and SMS (text) history without their permission. This is not the case.” Facebook even explained how users could opt out from giving the social media giant permission to log the contacts.

Facebook spokesperson clears the air about leaking allegations. AFP

“When you sign up for Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android, or log into Messenger on an Android device, you are given the option to continuously upload your contacts as well as your call and text history,” the company said.

“For Messenger, you can either turn it on, choose ‘learn more’ or ‘not now’. On Facebook Lite, the options are to turn it on or ‘skip’. If you chose to turn this feature on, we will begin to continuously log this information,” Facebook added. The tech giant also said that its users’ information is securely stored and is not sold to third parties. “You are always in control of the information you share with Facebook,” it said. IANS

In a bid to avoid discrimination in ads related to housing, jobs and credits, Facebook has announced new changes where anyone who wants to run such ads will no longer be allowed to target by age, gender or zip code.

These changes are the result of settlement agreements with leading civil rights organisations and ongoing input from civil rights experts, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said in a blog post late Tuesday.

Last year, the US National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and other private parties, filed litigation against Facebook, saying it needs to build stronger protections against abuse.

Facebook, social media. Pixabay

“Our policies already prohibit advertisers from using our tools to discriminate. We’ve removed thousands of categories from targeting related to protected classes such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion. But we can do better,” said Sandberg.

Advertisers offering housing, employment and credit opportunities will now have a much smaller set of targeting categories to use in their campaigns overall.

Any detailed targeting option describing or appearing to relate to protected classes will also be unavailable.

“We’re building a tool so you can search for and view all current housing ads in the US targeted to different places across the country, regardless of whether the ads are shown to you,” said the Facebook COO. (IANS)